Polarized Safety Glasses

Why do we need polarized glasses?

When the sun shines at the sea or any other reflective or partially
reflective surface, the reflected light becomes polarized. This means that most
but not all the light waves move in one plane. Normal light moves on many
planes. Polarized lenses allow only light in one plane to pass through the lens.
Therefore much of the glare can be eliminated.

Although the light from the sun is not polarized, it can be separated into
two polarized components that are reflected and transmitted in different amounts
by the surface of the water. More of the horizontal component will be reflected
than the vertical component, thus partially polarizing the reflected light. In
order to eliminate the glare we would use a lens that is vertically polarized.

If we polarized a lens both horizontally and vertically, it would not
transmit any light.

What is the difference between regular sun glasses and polarized
sunglasses?

Normal sunglasses decrease the intensity of all light by a uniform
percentage. Polarized sunglasses selectively eliminate the reflection from light
coming from a reflective surface. Most polarized glasses use a combination of
light attenuation and polarization, since otherwise they would only eliminate
about 50% of the light. Normal sunglasses filter out about 80-85% of the light.

Will polarized lenses eliminate all reflected light?

No. Maximum polarization is obtained when the sun is at about 37 degrees from
the horizon. If the sun (or other light source) is very low or very high the
sunglasses will be of limited help in filtering the glare. Polarized glasses
will not help if you are looking directly at the sun or light source. However
you will get some benefit when the reflected light comes in between 30 and 60
degrees.

Do polarized lenses help in other daily environments?

When you drive a car, you will experience reflections from the road, from the
engine hood and from other vehicles. As long as those reflections are incoming
between the angles of 30-60 degrees, you will benefit from the polarized
glasses.

Elvex polarized polycarbonate lenses

Elvex polarized lenses effectively eliminate horizontally reflected glare and
the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. the end result is greater clarity,
definition, brilliant color transmission and reduced eye strain. Our polarized
lenses are made from two layers of polycarbonate with the polarization filter
laminated in the center. The end product is a lens that has excellent optical
quality, provides 100% UV protection, offers extreme impact resistance and of
course adds the polarization benefits.